A gruesome maritime killing by North Korean soldiers on Sept. 22 led to a rare apology from Kim Jong Un the next day. This prompted the Blue House to reveal that leaders Kim and President Moon Jae In exchanged personal letters on Sept. 8 and 12 – initiated by the administration in Seoul, and reciprocated in a convivial tone. It also yielded incidental confirmation that a long-standing communications channel between South Korea’s state intelligence agency and the United Front Department (UFD) of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party is in active use, though not how often or for what purposes.